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On page 5, Monte Cook describes how in 1997, TSR got him involved in creating the third edition of “the world's most popular roleplaying game.” Lead Designer Jason Buhlman says that the first draft of Pathfinder was intended as a first draft for house rules for the “3.5 edition of the world's oldest roleplaying game.” It's pretty obvious that the authors are legally not allowed to mention the name of the parent game, even for reference purposes. So here we will refer to the game as “Voldemort.” For the design team, the goal was not to “wipe the slate clean and start over” but to build on the existing base. Buhlman says that as the rules grew in size, the changes grew from a simple update into a full new system. The authors stress that Pathfinder is compatible with 3.5, but that future products will be released by Paizo and by other publishers using the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility License.
Much of the interior art is done by Wizards of the Coast veteran Wayne A. Reynolds, although many other artists are listed (including 'Imaginary Friends' which I presume is a studio). The overall feel is very “3rd Edition.” One really cool thing about the PDF version is that certain relevant terms are hyperlinked, so that when they first mention each class, for instance, you can click the link and the page immediately goes to the start of the description for that class.
Chapter 1: Getting Started starts with the typical introductory bit saying what a roleplaying game is and what polyhedral dice are like. It stresses that the game is a “shared experience” and the Game Master is encouraged to use house rules that fit the agreed-upon style of play, although this also implies that “all the players should contribute their thoughts when the rules are in doubt.” It reviews the layout as being 15 chapters with “a host of appendices.” After a brief description of each chapter the book gives a glossary of common terms, some of which are unique to this game. For instance there are apparently certain combat maneuvers done by certain classes that perform special effects. When attempting such, a character has a Combat Maneuver Bonus (CMB) added to his d20 roll to succeed against the target's Combat Maneuver Defense (CMD), which is the Difficulty Class for the roll.
After the glossary you get a brief Example of Play. Then you start with the rules for character generation. When rolling ability scores you get to choose either: 3d6, best 3 out of 4d6, 2d6+6 (the 'Heroic' method), a point buy table where stats start at 10 with escalating costs, or a dice pool method where you take 24d6 and allocate how many dice are rolled for each stat with a minimum of 3d6 on each. As in standard d20, stats give a +1 to rolls with the stat for every 2 points above 10 (so the 'human maximum' 18 is +4 to a roll) and -1 for every 2 points below 11 (to a minimum of 1; a character with an ability score of 0 is non-functional for one reason or another and if his Constitution is 0, he's dead).
Chapter 2: Races goes over the basic races of the game: Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Halfling and Human. The book says that other races exist and might be playable, but the ones in this chapter are intended to be similar, do not “deviate too far from humanity” and are designed to be balanced with each other. Each race is presented with an example illustration where the character is shown naked except for a shift or briefs, which confirms that Halflings are still hairy-footed (and in this setting they DON'T wear shoes).
Compared to prior editions of “the world's most popular roleplaying game”, the races, including Humans, are a bit tougher, in that they all get a net +2 bonus to stats (the Human, Half-Elf AND Half-Orc get +2 to any ability score of choice while the other races are +2 with two specified stats and -2 on one other). The cultural description of each race lists its favored deities, who seem to be made up uniquely for this setting. There are a few other interesting details; not only are Elves actually taller than Humans here, it is mentioned that they tend to take on the traits or coloration of the natural environment (something implied in a lot of fantasy settings but not usually listed as a game trait).
Chapter 3: Classes describes eleven classes for PCs. As in the previous edition of this game, all character classes advance on the same experience table. However in Pathfinder the group or GM might choose between one of three XP tables, Slow, Medium or Fast depending on how fast they want to advance in levels. This is on a scale where Fast takes about 2/3 the XP requirement of Medium and Slow takes 50% more (so to reach 2nd level is 3000 XP for Slow, 2000 for Medium or 1300 XP for Fast). As in 3rd Edition, you always start as a single class but have the option of multiclassing when you get a new level, which simply means you can switch from one class to another, gaining one level in the new class (1st level in a class you didn't have before). In Pathfinder the “favored class” concept is not based on character race; rather the character chooses his favored class (which is usually his first one) and every time he gets a level in that class (including 1st level) he gets either +1 skill rank or +1 hit point.
Barbarian class is specifically listed as being possible for characters from “all walks of life, both civilized and savage,” which would account for the Dwarf Battlerager/Troll Slayer archetype. Or Wolverine. Or Belkar. As in 3E, the Barbarian's primary schtick is Rage, the ability to fly into a battle rage for a limited amount of time and boost certain abilities at the expense of subsequent exhaustion. In this game, the Barbarian also gets access to rage powers after 1st level, similar to how the Bard (below) has already had access to extra abilities based on Bardic Performance. Some of these rage powers include “Animal Fury” (a bite attack) and “Superstition” (bonus against saving throws vs. magical effects, however the barbarian must always attempt to resist all spells during the rage, even those cast on him by allies).
The Bard is again a specialist performer and Jack-of-all-trades adventurer. He can cast some spells, and choose them without preparing them ahead of time. Bardic Performance, again, allows the Bard to use his performing skills to achieve certain magical effects, usually mind-affecting powers that become very potent at higher levels (at 20th level, the bard can cause one target of his performance to die from joy or sorrow).
The Cleric can draw upon the power of a specific deity or some “divine concept” like death or justice. As in 3rd Edition, the Cleric, like the other dedicated spellcasters and the Fighter, gets screwed on skill points, getting only 2 ranks per level. (Even the Barbarian gets 4.) A cleric must prepare his spells in advance although he retains the option of “spontaneous casting” to switch a memorized spell for a healing spell of equivalent level. What was formerly called Turn Undead is here “Channel Energy”: The Cleric channels either positive or negative energy depending on his alignment (a neutral cleric has to choose between the two at 1st level). While positive energy will harm undead and heal the living, negative energy has the opposite effect. It's mentioned that the effect is a 30-foot radius centered on the cleric, and that the cleric can choose whether or not to include himself in the effect. Which with negative energy is quite fortunate.
This section also includes the Domains of the various deities; Cleric characters choose two domains depending on the domains of their patron deity or possibly alignment, and get one extra spell slot per spell level that must be used for a domain spell (giving a choice between one of two domains on each spell level). Each domain also includes Granted Powers; for instance the Air domain gives the resist electricity 10 trait at 6th level, which increases in value at higher levels.
Druid characters “channel a power beyond the marvels of civilization.” At 1st level, the Druid gains a certain bond with Nature, which must be a choice between gaining an animal companion (who can fight beside the druid and who advances in level concurrently) OR access to additional spell power in the form of a Domain, as per the Cleric ability but limited to one of the four element domains, Animal, Plant, or Weather. At 4th level the Druid gets a “wild shape” ability that allows him to change into a Small or Medium animal, and at higher levels the ability allows additional uses per day and additional forms, including the forms of Elementals.
This section also briefly describes the traits of animal companions including the base stats for common species.
The Fighter remains very basic but is even more effective in his role. He still gains “fighter bonus feats” at 1st level and every even class level but also gains bonuses to save against fear, training in armor (reduced penalties for wearing armor) and “weapon mastery” which gives +1 attack and damage with a broad group of weapons, in addition to the effects of specialization or other combat feats.
The Monk class is supposed to include anything from “battle-minded ascetics to self-taught brawlers.” They are still expected to be lawful in alignment and disciplined in behavior. Like Fighters, they get their own list of bonus feats and like some other classes, they have extras that they can apply to their signature abilities, for example the ability to apply extra conditions on a target affected by a monk's Stunning Fist attack.
Likewise, Paladins are still expected to be Lawful Good. As with other classes, the Paladin gets a signature ability (the lay on hands healing touch at 2nd level) that has extras applied to it at higher levels. In this case, at 3rd level and every 3 levels thereafter a paladin can select one mercy to apply to the lay on hands, such as the ability to remove fatigue or disease. The Paladin also gets a divine bond at 5th level, which means the choice of either the traditional paladin's steed or the ability to bond one's weapon with a celestial spirit for 1 minute per class level, effectively making the weapon enchanted with combat pluses or special traits (holy, keen etc.).
In Pathfinder the Ranger resembles the class as heavily modified in 3.5 (and again in D&D 4th Edition). He gets to choose a favored enemy at 1st level for +2 to attack and damage rolls and when rolling certain skills versus that foe (and chooses another enemy category every 5 levels with the previous bonuses going up another +2 each). At 2nd level he must choose a Combat Style between archery and two-weapon melee combat, with each option giving its own tree of bonus feats. In addition to spells, the Ranger also gets favored terrain bonuses to certain skills starting at 3rd level, and also gets the “hunter's bond” which means a choice between picking an animal companion (like the Druid option) or granting half of his favored enemy bonus to allies who can see or hear him within 30 feet.
The Rogue actually gets even more tricks than in the prior editions. In addition to massive skill points, evasion/dodge abilities, and enhanced trap-finding abilities, the rogue talent trees include the ability to cast low-level arcane spells, resiliency (extra hit points that kick in to stop the character from going below 0 HP) or extra feats, including Fighter-type combat feats.
As in the prior game, the Sorcerer is considered to have innate magical powers by virtue of a supernatural bloodline. In Pathfinder the Sorcerer has to define this bloodline. Thus in addition to having spontaneous casting (spells that do not need to be prepared in advance and a larger number of spell slots, at the cost of fewer actual spells compared to a Wizard) and “Eschew Materials” as a free feat at 1st level, a new sorcerer character has to choose his bloodline, which grants several benefits and possible drawbacks. Each bloodline grants an extra class skill, specific bonus spells added to the character's repertoire at higher levels, a choice of bonus feats at higher levels, and increased Bloodline Powers, some of which make the character's heritage more obvious. For instance the Draconic sorcerer gets actual wings at 15th level, and the Undead-bloodline sorcerer begins to rot at 20th level but is seen as “one of us” by actual Undead.
The Wizard has an arcane bond at 1st level, which is either a familiar (an option which should be familiar) or a bonded object - basically a weapon or talisman that focuses his abilities. A Wizard with a bonded object can use it to cast one spell per day that he has not actually prepared, but if he cannot employ it he has to make a Concentration check to cast any spells, with difficulty of 20 + spell level. The class is based on academic study of the arcane and thus retains the option to specialize in a school (or be a 'universalist'). A specialist wizard must take two other schools as opposition schools; he can still use these schools, but must use two spell slots for that spell level to use an “opposition” spell. However, all schools allow a wizard to get two innate abilities plus another one at 8th level. For instance, the Evocation specialist gets to add ½ his class level to the damage of a spell, gets to use a magic missile type-power as a standard action for 3 times a day plus Intelligence bonus, and at 8th level can create a wall of fire type effect that can manifest as fire, or acid, cold, or electricity. The Universalist ability allows the wizard to “throw” a melee weapon as a missile attack that automatically returns while at 8th level he can apply any metamagic feat he knows to a spell without increasing its level.
Chapter 4: Skills goes over character skill abilities. These work much as in other d20 games, in terms of how to take 10, take 20, aid another's action, etc. You roll d20 plus modifiers for the related characteristic ('key ability'), skill ranks, and some other circumstances. The higher the Difficulty Class (DC) of the given skill attempt, the more difficult it is, so you always want to roll high. In Pathfinder you can never have more skill ranks in a given skill than your total number of Hit Dice. However, if the skill you picked is one of your class skills, you get a +3 bonus with it (much like how other d20 games allowed the skill max to be level +3). Note that this means that in Pathfinder the characters don't get four times their skill points at first level, as they can't put more than 1 rank in each skill anyway.
Chapter 5: Feats refers to certain abilities not strictly dependent on class or skill. In this 3rd Edition-based game, that includes the ability to craft magic items. However, there are no longer experience point costs associated with item crafting, only gold costs. Besides Item Creation feats, you also have Combat feats (Fighter bonus feats, although they can be taken by anyone who meets the prerequisites), Critical feats (a character with a critical feat can apply an additional condition to a target who has taken a critical hit), and Metamagic feats (adding bonuses to or removing limitations from a spell, which usually requires saving it on a higher level spell slot). For example, the Bleeding Critical feat is a critical feat that allows the character to inflict 2d6 points of extra bleed damage with a critical hit.
Chapter 6: Equipment goes over the buying of equipment, including a first-level character's starting funds (x d6 times 10 gold pieces, number of dice depending on class, ranging from 1d6 for a Monk to 5d6 for a Fighter or Paladin). This is on a scale where 10 copper pieces equal 1 silver, 10 silver equals one gold, and 10 gold equals 1 platinum piece. On the Trade Goods table, 2 cp will get you one pound of flour or one chicken, while 3 gp is one pig, and 50 gold pieces is considered to be a pound of gold. Items that are not trade goods (barter, basically) can be re-sold for about half their listed value. Weapons are listed here, and in addition to their prices and damage ratings, certain necessary combat stats are mentioned for weapon type (most classes only know certain weapon types, and 'exotic' weapons usually require a separate feat or racial background to have proficiency), whether a weapon has reach (can melee attack outside standard range), is a double weapon (like two-headed weapons, allowing attacks as if fighting with a weapon in each hand), is used one or two-handed, what size category it is (if a weapon is too small or too large for a given wielder it either applies penalties or can't be used at all), and so on.
As in the older game, armor adds to the Armor Class (difficulty to hit) for the character, with shield adding a separate bonus that stacks (you can't stack armor bonuses together by wearing, say, leather under plate). Heavier armors limit mobility, reducing both movement rate and maximum Dexterity bonus to AC. It may also penalize Dexterity or Strength based skill checks, and will penalize attack rolls if the character is not proficient with wearing the given armor. Arcane spells (but for some reason not spells used by Clerics) can fail if cast by a character in armor. This chapter also mentions “special materials” that can be used to make equipment, like Adamantine, which has extra hardness and is used for masterwork-quality items.
Then you have short lists for basic adventurer's equipment, exotic alchemist items like the tindertwig (basically, a match), and also kits for certain classes or groups (alchemist's kit, thieves' tools, holy symbols, etc.), along with mounts and services for certain things, including having an NPC cast a spell for you.
Chapter 7: Additional Rules covers miscellany starting with alignment (and including nine combinations of law, chaos, good, evil and neutrality). One bit of advice: “Players who frequently have their characters change alignment should in all likelihood be playing chaotic neutral characters.” Other statistics in this chapter include age (rolling starting age and range of lifespan, in addition to the effects of aging on ability scores), height and weight, and carrying capacity. Like armor, a heavy load may affect a character's speed, Dexterity bonuses, and use of certain skills. Speed (movement) is usually on a tactical scale where 1 map square is 5 feet and most human-scale characters go at 30 feet per combat round. Humans can walk at 3 miles per hour or run at 12 miles an hour. This leads to the larger issues of overland travel, terrain and visibility, which are dealt with here. This chapter also has rules for breaking stuff. All objects have both Armor Class and hardness (damage reduction) in addition to hit points. In some cases it is possible to do a Strength check to break something by brute force, but this is usually not a great idea (DC to break good door, 18, DC to break down iron door, 28).
Chapter 8: Combat is what you'd expect. Combat occurs within the confines of a combat round, which is considered to be 6 seconds (so a minute is 10 rounds). Usually combatants are aware of each other, but those who are unaware are surprised and do not get to move during the first (surprise) round of combat. In most cases the combat starts with each combatant making an Initiative check (Dex bonus + other effects like Improved Initiative feat), and each round proceeds in that initiative order from there on (although certain Special Initiative Actions can change a character's initiative score). Most characters are considered flat-footed until their first combat action, meaning they lose Dexterity bonus to AC.
As in other D20 games, attacking is a D20 check using the character's Base Attack Bonus plus modifiers (Strength for melee, Dexterity for missile attack, plus size modifiers for the target, and other stuff) against the difficulty of the target's Armor Class (10 + Dex bonus + armor bonus plus other modifiers like shield). Certain feats or actions apply a dodge bonus, and unlike most bonuses of a certain type, dodge bonuses will stack with each other. Some touch attacks only need to touch a target to hit him regardless of how good his armor is, so you also need to figure a character's AC for touch attacks, not counting armor or shield but including Dexterity bonus. When you hit, you roll the weapon's damage, usually including Strength bonus for a melee attack. A natural 1 is always a miss and a natural 20 is an automatic hit and also 'threatens' a critical hit; if you roll again and hit the target's AC (whether it gets a 20 or not) the hit is a critical and multiplies the damage by a specific factor, in addition to other effects an attacker might get. It's also possible for some weapons and feats to increase the critical range. This section also covers the 'attack of opportunity' principle for getting free attacks inside your melee combat zone of 'threatened squares' (which can increase depending on your size or weapon reach), although it does say that even actions that would normally provoke AoOs (such as moving outside a threatened square) have exceptions to the rule. This chapter also deals with saving throws under three categories: Fortitude for attacks against the body, Reflex for dodging area attacks, and Will for attacks against the mind.
In combat you can take either a full-round action (such as multiple attacks or some spells) or a standard action (most of them) and a move action. You can also perform a second move action instead of a standard action. There are a few 'free', 'swift' and 'immediate' actions that take less time than standard actions and can be performed within certain limits.
If damage takes you to 0 hit points exactly, you are considered disabled, which means you can only take one move or one standard action (not both) and if you take a standard action, the strain causes you to take 1 more hit point in damage, and a character who goes to -1 or less HP is dying; you immediately fall unconscious and continue to take 1 hit point loss per round. A dying character rolls a DC 10 Con check (with his negative hit points as a penalty to the roll) to stabilize. If a character goes to negative hit points at or above his Constitution score, he's dead. Anything that causes a character's Con to go to 0 also kills him. Otherwise characters will recover 1 hit point per character level with 8 hours rest, or twice that amount with complete bed rest (a whole 24 hours). It is also possible to subdue a character with nonlethal damage which may also be the result of environmental effects or exhaustion- however if you take up to your hit point rating in nonlethal damage, any further damage becomes lethal. Nonlethal damage heals per hour.
In addition to rules for movement, positioning (flanking, etc.) and cover, Pathfinder also gives us the new mechanic of Combat Maneuvers for certain attacks like tripping or disarming an opponent. Again, the attacker uses a Combat Maneuver Bonus based on BAB plus Strength and sometimes size modifier. The DC is the target's Combat Maneuver Defense, which is 10 plus his BAB plus Dex bonus PLUS Str bonus and size modifier.
Chapter 9: Magic goes over the casting of spells, with a spell defined as a “one-time magical effect.” Some of the rules for spellcasting are already covered in the prior Combat chapter, although pertinent details are also given here. Most spellcasting classes have to prepare spells, which requires a certain period of rest and reflection depending on case (the wizard needs to consult his spellbooks while divine magic classes have to pray at a certain point each day, usually dawn). Bards and sorcerers both need rest and preparation to regain spell slots already used but once that is done they can cast any spell in their repertoires, as many times as they have spell slots for that level spell. It is assumed that spellcasting requires concentration and that if the caster cannot focus for some reason (damage over time, grappled, etc.) he must make a Concentration skill check with DC depending on circumstances. Casting a spell usually provokes an attack of opportunity in the area unless the character casts 'defensively' (which also requires a Concentration check).
Spells usually have a caster level equal to the character's level in that class (which may not be character level, if he's multiclassed), which is primary in determining factors like range, duration and difficulty to resist (that is, the higher level a caster is, the higher the DC of the saving throws against his spells). Spells are described in terms of school, even divine spells (healing spells, which only divines can use, are considered Conjuration, for instance), and also 'descriptor' for special effect. Descriptors also include elements such as 'mind-affecting' and 'language-dependent'- not all mind-affecting spells are also dependent on understanding the caster's language. On the following chapter's spell lists, each spell is described in terms of spell level and also eligible class- some spells can be cast by more than one class but sometimes it's not the same level spell for all classes. One tactic available in combat is the counterspell which allows you to disrupt an enemy's spell *provided* you can make a Spellcraft roll to identify which spell is being used AND also have the exact same spell ready to cast. (It's possible to use dispel magic to disrupt a spell, but it isn't guaranteed to work.)
Most spells are cast as a standard action, with special rules for if a spell requires more time (bards and sorcerers usually need extra time to use a spell with metamagic feats on it). Other factors discussed in this chapter are determining the area effect of spells on a tactical square map, spell resistance (which is basically a DC some creatures get that you have to roll against just to see if a spell works on them at all), and the existence of 'spell-like' or 'supernatural' abilities that are innate to a creature and usually don't require all the work of spellcasting.
Chapter 10: Spells is a totally separate chapter for the spell lists, as opposed to the prior chapter which explained the mechanics of how spells work and the format that these lists are written in. There are still 0 level spells, but in the earlier class chapter, it's explained that a caster can prepare a limited list of these per day and cast them over and over as often as he wants. Spells still go up to 9th level and still have a requirement of the character's main ability being 10+ spell level (so to cast a 9th level Wizard spell you'd have to be of high level and have at least 19 Intelligence). Spells are in alphabetical order, although some are actually based on other spells, so a description will often say something like “As (per) beast shape III,” or whatnot.
As with the prior edition of “the world's most popular roleplaying game,” polymorph spells got nerfed somewhat, except that while 3.5 made baleful polymorph (formerly Polymorph Other) a 5th level arcane spell and polymorph (Polymorph Self) a lower-level effect, here arcane casters (and druids) get the 5th level baleful polymorph defined as a type of 'beast shape' spell, which resembles both the druid class ability and a series of spells that arcane casters can get access to at various levels.
Chapter 11: Prestige Classes is where the Pathfinder book starts getting into material that other versions of the game covered in a “dungeon master's guide.” The concept is familiar for D20 System players: Each specialist class has certain requirements you have to meet, and while these may include elements like being a certain race, gender or nationality, the other requirements usually can't be met at 1st level, usually take more than 5 character levels, and are normally easier to meet for some classes than others. For example, the Eldritch Knight has to be both proficient in all martial weapons AND be able to cast 3rd level arcane spells, which requires both multiclassing and being at least 5th level in the spellcasting class. The eldritch knight gets some combat feats like Fighters, can count his levels in this class as prerequisite for both Fighter and spellcasting feats, and is considered to get spells per day as if he'd continued to train in his prior spellcasting class. There is also a new “Pathfinder Chronicler” prestige class, somewhere between a Loremaster and a Bard, which at higher levels can summon “legends” (a party of barbarians) as if using a horn of Valhalla.
Chapter 12: Gamemastering, likewise is where most other games give advice to the Game Master and here is where you get most of the information that prior editions of this game put into a completely separate volume. It says that a Game Master must be first and foremost a storyteller, and then a “master of improvisation”, an arbiter and an inventor, controlling everything that happens in the game (other than the actions and reactions of the PCs, of course). It conveniently plugs Paizo products, such as the modules published prior to the official release of this book, as tools toward setting up a campaign.
Chapter 12 also goes into detail as to the design of an encounter, which resembles the design process for encounters of the prior D20 games but is a bit more concise. Encounter level, or Challenge Rating (or CR) is compared to Average Party Level (APL) on a scale where Easy is APL -1 (the challenges are a level below the average experience level of the party members), Average is equal and Epic is APL +3. By means of the CR you can look up a table and get an “XP budget” for how much monsters and stuff you can cram in the encounter. For instance if six 8th level PCs face a “Challenging” (APL +1) encounter, then the party is considered to have APL 9 (more PCs than the standard group), a Challenging encounter is level 10, and the table gives a total of 9600 XP (of which each PC will get a share of 1600, if they survive). If you have the (not included) Pathfinder RPG Bestiary you will be able to pick out a list of monsters and in this case the GM chooses four gargoyles for 1200 XP apiece along with a stone giant leader who is 4800 XP, precisely within budget. CR can be adjusted up and down for favorable and unfavorable terrain and for the magic gear possessed by NPC opponents, although such also has to be balanced for the encounter's treasure budget. This leads to the awarding of treasure. The game also assumes an average rating for PC treasure maximum per level (which starts at 1000 at 1st level then seems to add 1000 x the new level so that a 2nd level character is expected to have 3000 GP worth of stuff) with treasure awards per encounter based on the CR of that encounter, adjusted by the Slow, Medium and Fast XP categories.
Then the chapter goes into more general advice stuff, like how to handle the inevitable death of a PC, how to confront “troublesome players” and how it's best to start with an Earth-like world so you don't start with an idea and then have to answer questions like why gravity is the same when the planet is twice Earth's size (a situation a lot of GM's get themselves into). There are also a few more specific and useful bits. For instance, as with the SHADOWRUN game, there's a cost of living standard that you can buy to assume the costs of incidental purchases (a Wealthy PC who pays 100 GP a month can cover most expenses under 10 GP, whereas a Destitute PC who pays no money per month has to track all purchases and is usually going to have to resort to Survival or some other skill just to get food and shelter). There are also a few brief discussions for “monstrous” (non-standard) PCs and the advancement of PCs beyond 20th level.
Chapter 13: Environment covers the creation of the gaming world including those dungeons, traps and other features that were referred to in the last chapter but not really dealt with. This includes the break DC of walls and also the DC to climb them, the lift difficulty of a portcullis, the DC of locks, etc. Some of these elements count as challenges in themselves (a collapse is CR 8, most threatening molds are CR 6 or less). Traps are defined, well, more mechanically. Each has a CR in addition to a specific trigger, reset condition, effect and type as well as DC to detect and Disable. Thankfully there are examples of traps at various CR levels as well as examples of how various elements add to or modify the CR of the trap.
Ironically the other danger involved in dungeon-questing is what happens outside the dungeon. A party will usually have to trek out into the wilderness to get to the destination of their adventure and will need supplies for the journey. Challenges include everything from forest fires to avalanches. Then you have city encounters, where elements include both crowds and siege attempts. And then you have the Planes. Pathfinder retains the expanded cosmology of Edition 3.5, including the Shadow Plane and the Outer Planes of the gods. Of course in standard environments, getting lost or losing supplies will lead to starvation and thirst, which are also covered here.
Chapter 14: Creating NPCs is the resource for creating NPCs, starting with the d20 “NPC classes” (Adept, Aristocrat, Commoner, Expert and Warrior). This also includes tools like a set of feat trees for each PC class type. Important NPCs also look up a table for NPC gear to get a budget for useful gear and magic items.
Chapter 15: Magic Items Speaking of which. This chapter gives the details on magic items, such as which ones require command words, how many items in each category a person can wear, random generation tables, etc. It is assumed that there is a market for buying magic items, although that doesn't mean that all items are commonly available. After item categories are rules for intelligent items and cursed items. In some cases a cursed item is one that is actually useful but has a specific drawback or requirement (like, it only works for characters with a certain name, so a possessor has to change his name to use the item). Artifacts are also shown here. This is also the chapter detailing how magic items are actually made, with prices being in terms of materials and GP.
Appendix 1 goes over what happens if your ability scores are boosted (or damaged, or permanently drained). Baneful effects to stats occur via curses, poisons and disease, with examples of such given. Categories such as 'charm' and 'damage reduction' are defined here. Appendix 2: Conditions defines game terms such as 'shaken', 'blinded', 'flat-footed' and 'invisible.' Appendix 3 is a bibliography of 'Inspiring Reading' (interestingly, Gygax's Gord the Rogue series is mentioned) and Appendix 4 lists company-approved game aids. Then there's a character sheet and an index.
SUMMARY
The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is the true successor to the “3.5 edition of the world's oldest roleplaying game” insofar as it resembles 3.5 a lot more than Wizards of the Coast's D&D 4th Edition resembles Wizards' D&D 3.5.
This is not automatically a good thing. If you liked all the details and fiddly bits that were endemic to AD&D and much of 3rd Edition, you'll love Pathfinder, because it is simply intended to take off with that material and revise it. In some respect it appeals to me more than New D&D. I like “crunch.” I like HERO System. I liked old school Gygax AD&D. I liked Hackmaster 4th Edition. Somewhat. The problem with all those fiddly bits is that they make character creation and combat more complex, so you end up getting a demand for new editions to clear everything up, which is why Wizards, rather than just proceeding off 3.5, decided to “wipe the slate clean and start over” with 4th Edition. And comparing it to Pathfinder I get a little more appreciation for what 4th Edition is about. The problem with that approach, as I'd described in my reviews of D&D 4th, is that making everything streamlined made the characters more interchangeable mechanically, which leads to even more emphasis on class roles and team mechanics. To me, it's too “metagame.” But the majority really love what was done with 4th Edition.
At the same time there still seems to be an audience for the “old school” approach. Pathfinder does a fine job of covering that market by preserving the 3.5 system (which is almost as separate from 'Advanced Dungeons & Dragons' as 3.5 is from 4E) with some rules cleanups and a little bit to make every class worth trying.
Style: 4
The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is a well-produced book in the vein of the previous edition of Dungeons & Dragons.
Substance: 4
This is basically rounding up from 3.5. Which is appropriate given that the game is just a little better than 3.5 Edition D&D and arguably not as good as D&D 4th Edition.
